Next month, the biggest event in lacrosse history will descend
on Dick's Sporting Goods Park, a 25-minute drive from Lee Zink's
home in Colorado.

Zink, a quiet, polite sort, takes his hosting role seriously as
a member of Team USA. He's among 31 players in the running for the
final 23 spots for a U.S. team that will defend its gold medal at
the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championship
July 10-19 in Commerce City, Colo. A record 38 countries will
compete in front of a fan base that has set a plethora of
professional lacrosse attendance records with the National Lacrosse
League's Colorado Mammoth and Zink's Denver Outlaws of Major League
Lacrosse.

Zink, 32, gets better with age. The two-time reigning MLL
Defensive Player of the Year now stands on the threshold of making
the U.S. team in his third attempt. After missing the cut in 2006,
Zink traveled with the team to England as an alternate in 2010.

As the second-oldest member of Team USA (he's two months younger
than Kevin Leveille), Zink admits he has lost a step. But his rigid
and relentless position defense — helped by his massive
wingspan and 6-foot-4 frame — is viewed as the antidote for
Team Canada legend John Grant Jr.

In two MLL encounters last summer, Zink held Grant to one goal
and one assist. Grant, who starred in the Chesapeake Bayhakws' run
to the 2013 MLL title, was traded to Outlaws and also plays for the
Mammoth. The Ontario native now lives fulltime in Denver.

So Zink will get a teammate's perspective on a potential
rival.

"One of the biggest challenges when you face Canada is how do
you stop one of their main offensive threats?'' Zink said. "I'm not
stronger. I'm not bigger. I'm not going to muscle him. He and I
have both lost a step. But when you get older, you get
smarter."

Jesse Schwartzman, one of three goalies vying likely for two
spots on the U.S. team, enjoys a bird's-eye view of Zink's lockdown
abilities as a six-time MLL All-Star with the Outlaws.

"He's neither the biggest nor the strongest, but he's versatile.
He can play a speedy player. He can play behind the net or in front
of the net," Schwartzman said. "He doesn't get too many highs and
he doesn't get too many lows. He is a calming force. He leads by
example. He's not a screamer. If you give up a goal, he makes sure
you know what's wrong, and we fix it.''

Those attributes were enough to convince Team USA defensive
coordinator Dave Pietramala that Zink deserved the chance to move
one step closer to a dream he has pursued for the last nine
years.

"It's hard to turn your back on his experience," said
Pietramala, who tried to get Zink to play for him at Johns Hopkins
before Zink landed at rival Maryland. "I said to him, 'I recruited
the heck out of you, and I'm glad to have a chance to coach
you.'"

A brief episode of phone tag betwen Pietramala and Zink delayed
the good news. When Zink finally heard it, he texted his wife,
Kiera, then called his parents, waiting a few hours because his
father was in Australia.

Schwartzman said Zink's call came four years too late, insisting
that he belonged on the 2010 U.S. team. But Zink was
diplomatic.

"Going into those 2010 tryouts, the coaches had an outline of
exactly what they need on their team and what role they want people
to fill,'' he said. "If you fit those roles, it's great. If you
don't fit those roles, or if you're not able to adapt to assume
those roles, it's harder."

"There was no ill will about that team," Zink added. "I was
lucky enough to be a part of it, to go over and travel with them as
an alternate. So I got to experience what the worlds are all about,
and it only makes you train harder for the next go around."

After January's Champion Challenge, where Pietramala feverishly
worked both sidelines during the nationally televised U.S.
Blue-White game, the coaches forged forward with a mostly younger
defense that includes current collegian Joe Fletcher (Loyola) and
2013 Maryland grad Jesse Bernhardt.

Zink graduated from Maryland in 2004.

"Having a player like Lee Zink who is very experienced and has
been around the block is critical," Pietramala said. "He has played
against many of the guys we'll see from the Iroquois and Canada. It
has been interesting to watch him move on and have a lengthy career
from being rock solid in high school, on to college and the pros.
He does it in his own calm, cool, collected and poised way."

The opportunity to play in Denver added to Zink's
motivation.

"This is my hometown now," said Zink, who grew up in
Connecticut, "so I always had that in the back of my mind —
to do whatever I could to give myself the best chance to make the
team."

No matter who makes the final 23, Zink sees a winner in this
U.S. team.

"The coaches say it is a challenge to pick, and they've put
forth a team that is going to win the gold,'' he said. "The
strength of the team is that we have a bunch of great athletes. We
can control the tempo. The key to success is to dictate the pace of
play."

Thirty-seven other teams, including five in the top-flight Blue
Division, will take their best shot at Team USA, a far cry from the
eight teams that participated in 1998, when US Lacrosse last hosted
the World Championship. Zink attended those games in Baltimore as a
17-year-old. While he never imagined playing for Team USA, he said,
he also never imagined lining up across from Uganda, Norway and
Thailand.

As spring gives way to summer, Zink said it will be easier to
combine his full-time responsibilities at an oil and gas financing
company with CrossFit training, stick-skill sessions in the park
and the strength training prescribed by Team USA coach Jay
Dyer.

After all, the lacrosse world is coming to his backyard, and a
championship quest awaits him.